Fate Dream
by Subwoofers
Summary: Even in her dying moments, the Holy Grail will not allow Arturia Pendragon to rest. Pulled back into the present, she must endure yet another brutal war. This time, she is no longer a Servant, but a Master of her own, and confusion only builds when she summons two Servants identical to her. The curtains draw, and three Sabers must battle against new foes. And Gilgamesh too.
1. Chapter 01

_Disclaimer: Fate/Stay Night, Fate/Extra and Fate/Zero are properties of TYPE-MOON, this is purely a work of fanfiction, I make no claim on these properties, etc etc.  
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"In the end, there is one thing I must tell you," she said, a voice full of determination.

The words were slow, and hesitant, and the eyes of Emiya Shirou twinkled as he spoke. "What is it?"

Saber's body wavered. She turned to face him. Her emerald eyes stared straight at him: soft, yet resolute. In a voice without regret, she said, "Shirou. I love you."

The wind blew into his eyes. When he opened them again, there was nothing but the sunrise that had been behind her; a brilliant golden, like the hair that he wished so deeply to feel once more. There was no surprise. He knew once he chose his path that they would part like this. All that was left was the open field. She disappeared without a trace, just as she appeared.

"Yeah, it really is just like you," he said, with the determined voice that she had spoken with. He squinted at the rising sun as the memories of the past two weeks flooded his mind. He stared at the horizon, hoping that he would never forget, that it would never fade away.

A distant land, glowing in sunlight, resembling the golden fields she once ran through.  
**[1.1: Gold Separation, _End_]**

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"Your highness, please stay here. I shall find someone right away." The knight, having cast aside his armor, laid the king under the shade of a large tree. The golden fields swayed in the wind, and each second he stood there, gazing at his majesty and gazing at the field, another second passed by without aid for the king. It would take him at least half a day to rush to the port where the rest of the army stayed. He knew himself, as much as he hated it, that the king's life would not last until the morning. Still, with as steady of a voice that he could muster, he announced, "Please endure until then. I shall certainly bring our troops here."

"Bedivere." The soft, almost sleepy voice stopped him as he turned for his white horse. He turned around immediately.

"Your highness? You have regained consciousness?" Though he tried to hide it, the joy raised his pitch by a key and a half. His eyes widen and the corners of his lips stretch toward his ears.

"Yes. I was watching a dream." She spoke slowly, faintly, yet warmer than any other time she had spoken to him. Perhaps it pained her to talk, but she betrayed no hint of pain.

"A dream?" He called out as if to search. Though the king spoke, he remained uncertain that she was truly conscious.

"Yes. I have not seen many dreams, so it was valuable experience."

"That is great. Please be at ease and rest. I shall retrieve the troops and return shortly."

She gasped, or she emitted a voice that sounded like a gasp. Bedivere's eyes widened in great alert. "Your highness? Have I been rude?"

"No, I was just surprised. I did not know a dream could be seen after awakening. Do you mean I will be able to see the same dream if I close my eyes again?"

Bedivere's expression changed to a surprised one. Words raced through his mind; he knew what he would say would be a lie, but he continued, stuttering all the way. "Yes. If you so strongly desire, you can continue seeing the same dream. I have had that experience before as well." It was impossible. Dreams only occurred once. Deep in his heart, he apologized to the king; this would be the first and last dishonesty he would ever perform.

Yet, "I see. You are knowledgeable, Bedivere," she murmured. There was not enough strength within her to look up into the eyes of her last knights. Her time was running out. In a voice quieter, softer than she ever spoke before, she said, "Bedivere, take my sword. Pass through this forest…go over the blood-stained hill. A deep lake lies beyond it. Throw my sword into the lake."

He gasped. "Your highness, that means…!" To let go of the sword of the king would mean the end of the king, he thought.

"Go," she breathed. "Once you have accomplished my order, return here and tell me what you saw."

There was no room for argument. His lips trembled. His eyes twinkled, but no tears fell. He could not cry, not when the king did not. He took the sword.

Two times, he stopped at the lake. Two times, he could not let go of the sword that symbolized the king. Two times, he could not bear to part with the one he served. Two times, he returned and lied that he had thrown it away. Two times, the king ordered him to follow her command. Two times, he committed one of the gravest sins of a knight: he disobeyed a direct order.

Finally, on the third journey, he knew he could lie no longer. He knew the king would not change her mind. So he threw the sword into the lake. A white hand appeared from the water and held it; after circling the sky three times, it returned into the water, and the holy sword vanished from the world.

A single tear escaped from his eyes. He could no longer deny the king's end.

It had taken him much time to cross the hill three times. The battlefield was far, far away. The forest was now covered in a brilliant, golden sunlight, and in that light, before the king, he kneeled. "I have thrown the sword into the lake. The sword has returned to the Lady of the Lake."

The king opened her eyes. Her voice had grown even quieter; he had to strain to hear the words. "I see. Then…you shall be proud. You have obeyed your king's command.

He nodded. Everything had ended. Everything that his king had built up, from the country to the people to the loyal knights that served her; everything would end, except for the chaos. The battle would continue, and he would watch the ruin of his king's beloved land.

But her battle was over. She had fulfilled her duty until the very last moment. The light disappeared. "I am sorry, Bedivere. This sleep will be…a…long-" As if she had drifted off to sleep, her words faded away. Her eyes gradually closed.

The light returned. The wind was silent; the forest was silent; the knight was silent as he watched his king enter the long sleep. He watched over her figure. The king that he wished for, a lonely king seen off by a single knight. An end unfitting for a king, but an end that he had wished for. Her face, as she entered her sleep, was one at peace. In her final moments, the king had obtained the piece that she had never been able to obtain. The knight stood, satisfied.

The heavens were far, and the clearing sky was blue. The battle had truly ended. "Are you seeing it, King Arthur?" He murmured into the wind. "The continuation of the dream?"

And as her mind faded away, she saw it: a distant, distant dream.**  
**

* * *

There was a faint rumbling close by, very close by. Saber turned in her sleep, and her eyes fluttered for a moment. Her breathing was shallow, and her face was quite pale. Her lips moved, but no sound came of them. _Avalon…_

"Oh, perhaps she isn't. And I couldn't bear to wake up someone with a sleeping face as adorable as that, but we're getting close, aren't we?" A girly, breathy voice that seemed to echo repeatedly in her ears, that seemed to get closer one second and farther the next. "What a dilemma we have here."

The faint rumbling…. _A vehicle?_ There was a dull throb in her head, and her eyelids were leaden, but she forced herself to open them. She blinked. A passenger car, with four black, leather seats; a young woman or a teenaged girl sitting with her in the backseat and, looking at the mirror, an old man with whitened hair driving the car. Outside was a night sky dotted with itty bitty shining stars, cherry blossoms in beautiful bloom and a desolate, yet serene sidewalk.

Saber's mouth hung open and her eyes opened wide. Her gaze turned wildly from the girl to the old man. "…What?" she muttered.

"Oh, perfect! You're finally awake, Arthur- er, I mean, Arturia. Let's see," the girl clapped, pushing up her left sleeve. There was some sort of band underneath, but Saber was unable to make out what it was; there was something wrong, so she couldn't focus her vision no matter how much she blinked or how hard she squinted. "Wow, you've been asleep for almost sixty-two hours. Well, I guess that goes to show you that time flies by when you're with a friend."

Saber could sense no hostility or malice from the girl's tone, nor was her posture any threatening; she was sitting, slouched, barely a foot away, and, having rolled her sleeve back down, she had taken a glowing, rectangular object out of her bag and began to tap at it. Still, there was an intense discomfort from waking up in an unfamiliar place, surrounded by unfamiliar people, so she instinctively willed for her sword.

Which refused to appear. Her gaze turned with horror towards her hand, and she finally noticed that she barely had the strength to even move it.

"Now, now, no panic attacks, Arturia. We mean you no harm. In fact, we wish you just the opposite."

"Who- how do you know my name?" she gasped. Her head appeared to be the only part of her that obeyed; the rest of her body felt numb and detached.

"I already answered your first question: I'm a friend. And what kind of friend doesn't know their own friends' names?" The girl turned to her, grinning. The glow from the object helped illuminate her face, and Saber could see that she was probably a teenager, no older than her age when she pulled Caliburn from the stone. She had long white hair that reached the seat and big black eyes. "Well, at least you remember who you are. Do you remember what you did before you woke up?"

"I- I…" _The Fifth Holy Grail War. The corruption, the black mud. A sword of gold, slashing through the cup of cold. A heartfelt goodbye._ "The Grail." She closed her eyes tight as the memories rushed back into her. _The Battle of Camlann. The duel with Mordred. Bedivere. The Lady of the Lake. A dream?_ Her eyes opened again. "I died," she breathed hesitatingly. "I died of my wounds."

"Haha, well, obviously you're not dead now, Arturia. Wow, aren't we simply amazing. We managed to summon you in the split-second between the beginning of your sleep and the end of your life. That, now that was hard. Even with the Grail's help, it took up almost all of our prana." She laughed.

"But- how- why? What do you- why did," Saber stammered.

"No, no, no, no, no," the girl said, shaking her head. She covered Saber's mouth with her left hand. "Don't ask twenty questions at once. One at a time, after I ask my question. Now," she paused, her smiling growing wider and wider until the corners of her lips poked at her ears. "How would you like to take part in a true Holy Grail War?"

And Saber's eyes widened past human imagination. She began to speak even before the hand was removed from her mouth. "-troyed the Holy Grail! I destroyed it with my own hands! I- I- I destroyed it with Shirou!"

"Ah, that you did. You destroyed the terrible, corrupt, Fuyuki Holy Grail, and I highly doubt that the Einzbern, Matou and Tohsaka families will be ever be able to rebuild it. But you should know as well as anyone else that the Fuyuki Holy Grail was never the one and only Holy Grail."

"But-"

The girl cleared her throat. "The Fuyuki Holy Grail War was simply the first, organized system in which Masters would battle with Servants, and through the battles, summon the Holy Grail. Unfortunately, the first three Holy Grails failed to achieve a true victor, and it was during the Third Holy Grail War that a, let's say, anti-heroic spirit was summoned quite accidentally. Said anti-heroic spirit's death tainted the Holy Grail, and turned it into a manifestation of the all of the world's evils. That was in the 1930s, at the eve of the Second World War. Um, are you following what I'm saying?"

Saber blinked. "Then, do you mean, the First and Second Holy Grail could grant wishes?"

"Yes! Though, to be clear, they should have been able to grant wishes, but since there wasn't a winner in either, who knows?" she giggled. "So in other words, the Holy Grail War in Fuyuki was already doomed to failure eighty years ago. But the three families in Fuyuki weren't the only ones who wanted a Holy Grail, and those people had five wars and two hundred years to learn a thing or two about holding Holy Grail Wars." She winked at Saber. "So how does it sound? Two time winner of the Fuyuki Holy Grail, King of Knights, Arturia Pendragon, how would you like to participate in the first Keizoku Holy Grail War?"

There was something about the way the girl spoke that told Saber that she would not be able to say no. She looked down for a moment, and said in a small whisper, "What if I refused?"

The girl scratched her head and looked thoughtfully towards the rear window. "Then the summoning contract would cease to be effective, and your, um, soul, would be pulled back to your own time where you would promptly die. And probably go to Avalon for the rest of eternity." She shrugged.

"Cease to be effective?"

She started to scratch the edge of her brow. "The ritual to summon you isn't a binding one. We can't keep you here against your will, so if you really wanted to leave, then you could just by willing it. But I think there isn't a single reason for you to not stay."

"What- what do you mean by that?"

The girl smiled again. "Don't you want to see Shirou?"

"I-"

"Think of this as your second chance to life. A normal life, Arturia, or a relatively normal life. Life is never really normal when you're overflowing with awesome." She giggled. "But that's just the first reason, and I can see you're already teetering over the edge."

Saber would have blushed, but she was too bewildered to do so. The thought of seeing Shirou even one more time…

"Second, if you do indeed join, there will be fourteen Masters participating in this Holy Grail War. Fourteen vastly different people from all over the world who all have a chance to have their deepest and greatest wish granted. You were a participant in the Fourth Fuyuki Holy Grail War; you should be able to see the problem in that. That's thirteen people who could be Kirei Kotomine."

A great chill ran down Saber's spine at the mention of the greatest obstacle in both of the Grail Wars that she participated in. _But he died._ "Shirou killed him."

"Oh, woops, sorry. I meant, 'thirteen people who could be another Kirei Kotomine,' who could have their crazy and wicked dreams come to fruition. Would you allow that, as a king of knights?"

And from that one sentence, she knew that she would have to join. She would have to raise her sword once more. _Will I ever be able to rest?_ And the answer was clear; the answer was clear from the moment she pulled the sword out of the stone. _Even in my final moments, I am to fight and kill?_ She gritted her teeth. "I would not."

The smile returned to the girl's face. It seemed that everything Saber said caused her to smile. "I knew you would say that."

"Amber, we've arrived," said the old man, who had joined her in the smile. The car stopped.

"Well then, it's time for you to take action on those words. Come, come! Come see your new home for the duration of the Holy Grail War." She opened the door of the car, and a slight breeze rushed in. "What are you waiting for? People are usually thrilled to see a new- oh, silly me, how could I forget something like this?" She placed a hand on Saber's forehead; it was warm, very warm, and the heat began to flow down into Saber's body. It was soothing, so soothing, and it reminded her of Shirou.

"Okay, you should be able to move now! Boy, even with all the prana overflowing out of the Grail and my own, you're still much weaker than you should be. I guess that's what happens when you illegally summon a Servant to do a Master's job, haha!" 'Amber' grinned as she stepped out of the car. Her head disappeared above the top for a short moment. "Right, how impolite of me. I haven't even introduced myself yet." She poked her head back down. "People call me Ambrosia Waki, Amber for short." Another smile.

Saber flexed her fingers. _A little slow._ She frowned, and that was when she noticed the clothes that she was wearing, now that her vision had straightened. _What is this?!_ She rushed out the car and turned to face Amber, though the sudden change from inside to the outdoors in her weakened condition gave her a slight headache. Nevertheless, she pointed to her clothes and exclaimed, "What am I wearing?!"

Amber raised an eyebrow, and glanced over to the old man, who chuckled in response. She was wearing the same uniform. She scratched her head. "A uniform? A beautiful, blue, high school uniform?" And she cocked her head in confusion.

The cool air brushed past Saber's bare legs, sending a shiver up her spine. She looked down. The skirt was short, shorter than any skirt she had ever worn (not that she had worn many). "But why?"

Amber put a finger to her lips and snapped her head left and right. Leaning closer in, and in a very soft whisper, she said, "Because we're going to high school, dear Arturia! We can't have you running around in full battle armor and exposing the most secretive Holy Grail War ever!" She shrugged. "Now, we shall quietly enter our new dormitory. It's 2 AM, you know."

_Dormitory?_ She turned. There it was: a building five stories high with full, tinted glass windows that slid open into spacious balconies, turning into a U-shape and surrounding a brilliant, foaming fountain in the very middle. The car was parked in the marked parking spaces surrounding the fountain, and encircling the parking lot was a vast garden of red and yellow and white and green flowers, illuminated by dim, overhanging lights. _Impressive_, she murmured under her breath. _Though, this does not compare to the extravagance of the Einzbern Castle, or the homeliness of Shirou's home._ And the thought of Shirou brought her out of her observations, and she noticed Amber and the old man had already walked halfway to the entrance without her.

"This is more like an apartment than a dorm, though," Amber said as Saber caught up. Her eyes seemed to twinkle in the light. "There's a fitness room, a game room, a big lounge…" Her smile had widened further. "…and a pool along with a bunch of Jacuzzis!"

There was something familiar, something childish in Ambrosia, which Saber had to smile to, just slightly. She seemed like a person to trust. So Saber extended a hand.

"Hm?" Amber's smile disappeared when she saw the hand.

"I take it you are to be my Master for the Holy Grail War. I would have to complete the con-"

Amber giggled and shook her head as they reached the front door. "No, no, Arturia. I'm not your Master."

"What do you mean?" Saber's brow furrowed.

"Simple. How can I be a Master of a Master?" She chortled.

_A Master of a- wait!_ "You did not summon me as a Servant?"

Amber waved a hand as she quietly opened the front door. "No! I summoned you as a Master of the Holy Grail War!"  
******[1.2: Continuation of the Dream, _End_]**

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**Author's Note**  
Slight revisions to the chapter, particularly sectioning in an attempt to mimic the chapters of the visual novel (hurrah, visual novel).


	2. Chapter 02

"You're, um, you're kind of in the middle between a Master and a Servant," Amber said, scratching her head. "So, uh, you could probably overpower weaker Servants with your skill and match average Servants toe-to-toe, but not for long. As for the stronger Servants, well…" She shrugged and began to draw an invisible line back and forth her neck.

"That's…" Saber trailed off as they walked into her new room. She raised an eyebrow. _Is she sure that this is a student dormitory?_ It looked more like a deluxe penthouse suite of a five star hotel! Two white sofa beds capable of sitting six people each sat on either side of a large, triangular, black coffee table; cushions as big as her body and as fluffy as the fluffiest pillows she had ever seen, lining the sofa and the floor (foot rests?); a sixty-inch flat screen mounted on the wall above an enormous cabinet stretching the entire wall stared gloriously into the living room, surrounded on both sides by towering speakers no different from two more speakers at the corners of the opposite wall. At the edge of the television, away from the entrance, lay a sliding glass door.

"That's the kitchen, but uh, I don't think you know how to use it." Amber giggled, noticing the stare. "The fridge is six feet tall," she whispered into Saber's ear. "Six feet by three feet of delicious food."

"But…why?" Saber asked, eyes glowing. Without her noticing, her mouth had begun to water.

"I think you mean, why not?" Amber replied, innocuously twirling the former king's standing strand of hair. "We look at the balcony later. First, you need to see where you'll be sleeping."

"Hm, I can see the balcony from here." And she did. The wall opposite the entrance was not really a wall, but a giant set of rectangular glass panes that looked out into the balcony; it was complete with a pair of elegant white tea tables, each surrounded by three cute little chairs. There were even tea sets already placed on. At either edge of the balconies lay a small frame, where a number of flowers had begun to bloom. _This does not at all seem like a living space for a mere student._

Amber laughed as she pulled Saber through the bedroom door, located to the right of the living room.

And Saber balked once more. The bed! She walked up to it. _One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight._ The bed was a full foot off the floor, and the immense width allowed it to hold three two-and-a-half foot long drawers. It was a black frame, and the white mattress was at least another foot high, and that was to say nothing of the sheets and pillows. The sheets were smooth as silk, of a checkered pattern, and so large that a tug from her barely moved them. And the pillows! They could have swallowed grown men without problems!

"Impressed?" Amber scratched her chin.

Saber blinked. _Yes._ Her eyes were transfixed on the adorable lion plushies scattered at the head of the bed. _One, two, three, four, five, six?_ Though they were yellow in color, the warm light of the…apartment…helped turn the white walls and sheets into a perfect match. She was using every inch of self-control in order to not jump onto the bed and begin rolling among the lions.

"No answer? Well, I guess that's better than getting another question," Amber shrugged. "I think the wardrobe is big enough for you to buy sixty different sets of clothes, not like you'll use even half." And that it was. The black wardrobe was more like three of the same wardrobes combined: it had three pairs of doors, three pairs of drawers at the bottom and three suspiciously similar engravings at the top. The bed had taken up an entire half of the bedroom, so the only other furniture was the equally immense wardrobe and a small table with a mirror opposite the door, a computer desk and chair against the wall of the door and another sixty-inch flat screen mounted on the wall opposite the bed.

Amber took a look at her wristwatch and raised an eyebrow. "Okay, um, Arturia. You've been staring at the bed for a good three minutes now. It's almost 2:20, and I think we should…Arturia?" There was no response of any kind. She approached the still girl and began to snap her fingers in front of the still face. "Hello? Arturia? Earth to Arturia. Hm. Saber? Hello? Saber?" Still no response other than a blink.

So she scratched her head, and an idea poked its way inside. She grinned and cleared her throat. "Saber," she said, in a strangely masculine voice.

"Shirou!?" Saber whirled around, but there was no sign of the teenage boy, only a smiling Amber.

"Okay, that worked. Come on, you can go wrestle with lions after you summon your Servants." She grabbed Saber's right hand and began to pull her to the living room.

"Wait, Amber! I- I do not even have command seals yet!" And as the words left her mouth, an intense stabbing pain dug into the back of her right hand. She winced as it traveled straight up her arm. The girl's grip tightened and the pain disappeared as quickly as it started.

"Don't have command seals, pft. Well, now you do." She grinned as they entered the living room, and she let go of her hand.

True enough, the intricate red markings that Saber had seen on the hands of every Master of the Holy Grail Wars had found its way onto her own hand. Her eyes widened. _So with this, I'm truly a Master in the War?_ "Wait, how-?"

"Ugh," Amber rolled her eyes. "More questions? Ever since you arrived, you've done nothing but ask questions. Where's the praise? Where's the thanks? 'Wow Amber, you managed to summon me at the exact moment between my sleep and my death!' 'Wow Amber, you managed to find such a beautiful place for me to live!' 'Wow Amber, you pulled command seals out of your ass!' Nope, just a bunch of who's and what's and where's and when's and why's." She threw her arms into the air and furrowed her brow.

"I- I apologize," Saber replied, bowing deeply. "I am sincerely sorry for my complete lack of appreciation for your-"

"Okay, stop. Stop. Stop."

She cocked her head.

"I don't know. It's like you're so sincere, but your super sincerity makes it sound really strange. And awkward and sarcastic." She looked up with a nostalgic look, then gave a suspicious glance over to the new Master. "You aren't making fun of me, are you?"

"Of course not. I have no reason to disrespect the magus who has given me a second chance."

Amber blinked. "Okay, enough tangents. It's 2:30 already, and you need to summon your Servant before they're all taken!" She tapped at her phone and rubbed the bridge of her nose. "Right now, there's twelve Masters, including you, and eleven Servants have been summoned. Four of those Servants and three of those Masters joined the War within the last four hours, so quickly!"

"But do I not need a catalyst?" she asked.

"No, no, not at all," was the reply, as she walked over to the coffee table. "A catalyst only helps specify which Servant you want. If there is no catalyst, the Holy Grail will choose a Heroic Spirit out of compatibility. In other words, if you don't really have a specific spirit you want to call upon, it's best to leave it up to the Grail. At least then, your personalities won't conflict." She reached into her sleeve and pulled out square sheet, which she unfolded six times. The resulting sheet ended up covering the entire table, and at the very center was a magic circle.

"Well, what about the ritual?"

"Ah, more questions!" The sudden comment was met with a very slight blush and a bow. "The Holy Grail does most of the work. As a Master, your job is merely to anchor the spirit to this world and give it enough mana for it to take a physical form." Amber rubbed her chin.

"But-"

"Stop!" she cried. "No more buts. No more ah's and uh's and I's. Just do what I tell you to do, and if it's important that you know, then I'll tell you."

Saber took a step back, and bowed again. "I apologize for my behavior." She heard the sound of a smack, but she did not rise quickly enough to see the cause of the sound. There was a brief pause during which she took a deep breath, and then she stood with a new resolve. "I will do as you say."

"Okay," Amber said, grinning. "Now, hold out your right hand towards the circle, focus, and then repeat after me. And maybe close your eyes too. It appears more dramatic when you have your eyes closed, you know?"

Saber squinted, and nodded. She stood still while her eyes watched the overeager girl walk behind her, and she felt a warm touch on her back.

"I'll give you a quick supply of mana, since you're…handicapped right now. Okay, repeat after me." There was the sound of a deep breath. "I hereby propose: thou shalt come under my command, and my fate shall be thy sword."

Saber closed her eyes. "I hereby propose: thou shalt come under my command, and my fate shall be thy sword." She felt a rush of wind from the circle, and a rush of energy passing straight through her from where Amber had placed her hand.

"Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me!" In a voice lighter than a whisper, she added, "Isn't old English so dramatic?" And giggled.

"Abiding by the summons of the Holy Grail, if thou dost accede to this will and reason, answer me!"

"I hereby swear I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world. You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence. Come forth, Heroic Spirits of the Grail!"

"I hereby swear I will be all that is good in the eternal world. I will be the disposer of evil in the eternal world. You, seven heavens clad in three words of power, arrive from the ring of deterrence. Come forth, Heroic Spirits of the Grail!" An immense rush of wind, choking smoke and energy.

Amber once again whispered into Saber's ear, in a low voice that tickled her. "By the way, that was the same chant that your former master Kiritsugu used to summon you." Saber's eyes popped open. "What?!" And the intense light blinded her. She was forced to take a step backwards and shield her eyes.

"Bright lights, smoke, wind…oh! I forgot dramatic music! Damn, too late now." And everything stopped, and was still.

There was a clearing of the throat, albeit by a different person. She opened her eyes, and what she saw made her lose all composure; her jaw dropped open in pure disbelief.

"I ask you, are you my Master?"

Tick, tock, tick, tock. The five seconds that passed seemed longer than eternity. Not a single person moved. Not a single person breathed. Not a single person spoke.

Until Amber crossed her arms and smiled until the corners of her lips touched her ears. She began nodding, barely able to stifle her laughter. Her eyes twinkled in amusement. Once again, she was the only one audacious enough to break the silence. "Three Sabers, huh? Gilgamesh would be jealous."

* * *

Amber waved goodbye, a devious smile on her face. "I'll let you guys sort this out while I check up on my grandfather. Have fun!" she had said, moments before snatching the circle and her bag away and rushing off. The door closed with a slam, leaving an astonished Saber standing in front of two mirror images.

Well, not exactly mirror images. Though the Saber on the left had a similar top, the bottom of her bright red dress opened up in the middle to reveal an eye catching transparent layer, with yellow lace at the very edge, which bared her thighs and golden boots for the entire world. She wore no breastplate, no gauntlets and no tassel. She stood tall and upright, with an expression of dignity and stoicism. The Saber on the right was much more relaxed; she had crossed her legs while standing, and stared at her with a slight smile. She wore a white, shoulder-less dress beneath the breastplate, and the bottom of it was ten times more frilly and extravagant than either of the Sabers in the room. In fact, at the kick of a leg, the back of the dress flew up into a beautiful formation, like that of a lily flower.

Yet there was no mistaking the blonde hair and emerald eyes. There was no mistaking the soft faces and slender figures.

The Saber in red shifted in her stance, not lifting her gaze from Saber for a single second, and repeated herself. "I ask you, are you my Master?" There, another difference; her manner was something similar to Gilgamesh. She spoke with a haughty and arrogant tone, and a voice brimming with unbridled confidence.

The Saber in white smiled and turned to the Saber in red. "She's the only Master here," she said, looking at Saber's right hand and command seals through the corner of her eye. "So she must be. Right?" And she turned to Saber and smiled a sweet smile, with big twinkling eyes. _Her voice…it's no different from my own._

Before Saber could speak, the Saber in red cleared her throat. "Then the contract is complete. By my hands and my sword, the Holy Grail shall be ours." Her smile reminded Saber of Gilgamesh once more; it was more of a smirk than a smile, with hawk-like, predatory eyes and one corner of the lip turned higher than the other.

The Saber in white seemed to sigh in relief. She stretched her arms high into the air, and the armor disappeared from her, leaving only the white dress and white stockings. She touched at the large black bow holding her pony tail, ran her hand down her hair and plopped down onto the sofa. She grabbed one of the cushions on the seat and squeezed it tightly against her chest. "Well, Master, aren't you going to sit down? Summoning two Servants…" she looked back to the Saber in red, who eyed her suspiciously. "That must have been tiring."

"What? I-" Saber stammered.

"Hmph, a Master who summons me would obviously be a magus of great caliber, who would not be tired by such a simple ritual," said the Saber in red, who crossed her arms. "Am I correct, Master?"

"I-" And she was once again interrupted by the creaking of the door.

The top of Amber's tilted head poked in. "So…it's been fifteen minutes. Are you guys all acquainted?" She poked the rest of her head in, revealing the same smile that she had left with.

"What? No!" Saber muttered, attention still switching back and forth between the white and the red Servant. "How? I- But…how?"

Amber threw up her hands. "Again with the questions, Arturia? You should be more accepting of the strange things that happen to you." She was met with a bewildered expression, so she entered the room and sat down beside the Saber in white, who greeted her with a smile and a nod. "As for the how, well, you kind of did have two magi in close proximity during the summoning. Maybe the Grail got confused. Maybe the Grail decided to take all of these Sabers and put them in one place." She shrugged before scratching her head. "Uh, then again, you never were much of a magus. Too knightly to do well in magic."

The Saber in red turned her attention back to her Master. "What do you mean, petty girl? A legendary spirit such as I can only be summoned by a legendary magus."

Amber chuckled, scratching her nose. "I guess you can say the two of you were summoned by Arturia here with a huge amount of help from me. Don't worry though; you only have one Master, and that will be her."

The Saber in white grabbed another cushion and squeezed it tightly with one hand. With the other, she patted the middle seat of the sofa.

Quite dazed, Saber sat down. It seemed that more had happened in this War in a single hour than all of the previous Wars combined. It didn't help that she wasn't kept up-to-date with the passing of the years, like in the Fourth and Fifth Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars.

"Well then, Arturia," Amber said, leaning over to look at her. She raised an eyebrow. "Have you done names and stuff yet? Uh…judging by the blank look on your face, which is pretty adorable, all you've managed to do is complete the contract."

The Saber in white giggled and nodded. The Saber in red raised her brow. "My Master will choose her own pace without criticism from you."

To which the Saber in white shook her head. "I see you tapping the floor with your foot. Master does seem a little slow on the uptake."

Amber laughed out loud. "'Oh boy, this must be what Shirou felt like when I popped out of nowhere.' That's what you're thinking right now, aren't you, Arturia? First you come back from the dead, kind of, then you get forced into participating in another Holy Grail War, kind of, and then you find out you're going to be a Master instead of a Servant, and now you summon two Servants, both of which are mirror images of you." She licked her lips. "I guess the Holy Grail has a very big love for Sabers."

The Saber in white giggled and nodded again, and when Amber offered her a hand, she gently shook it.

"Hmph, my Master only needs me to win the Holy Grail. Summoning a second Servant was a waste of resources," said the Saber in red, pouting and crossing her arms.

"Yes, but that also means there's one less Servant to fight and one less Master participating in the War. That's good news," Amber said, leaning back and crossing her legs.

"But by commanding two Servants, would their powers not be weakened?" Saber asked, finally speaking up again. "Each Servant splits the mana given to them by their Master equally, so would they not be at half strength? That…that would be most inconvenient."

"Well, you're a Master now, Arturia. Why don't you take a look at the parameters of your two twins?" she shrugged in reply.

She turned to the Saber in white, who stared back at her with her puppy dog eyes. _Focus_, she breathed, and as she did, a flow of information rushed into her head. Stats: six different areas, each with bars that nearly reached the top; however, each bar, save the last, only appeared to be half shaded. She broke off the analysis by averting her gaze. A brief look at the Saber in red told the same story. "It appears that their stats are indeed decreased. That is…" she trailed off.

"Master, fear not! Even in my weakened state, I will crush any enemies that stand in your path in the most elegant and beautiful of ways!" The Saber in red announced in a half-shout. She grinned as she sat down on the other sofa, her bare legs visibly crossing under the transparent dress.

Amber's eyes lit up. "Actually, Arturia, this may very well be a blessing in disguise! The new rules of the Holy Grail War are perfect for a Master who can summon more than one Servant, and since you're half-Servant yourself, you might actually have a pretty huge advantage."

"The new rules?" Saber furrowed her brow.

"Ah yes, the new rules. You must be the only one here who doesn't know about them."

The two Servant Sabers nodded in unison, while the Master Saber tilted her head. "Please explain."

"Ah, you're getting tricky, Arturia. You're asking me questions in sentence form; very tricky of you." Amber grinned widely. "Well, the Keizoku Holy Grail War has been secretly in the making for the past 140 years. Only a small percentage of magi know about its existence, and most of them have watched and learned from the mistakes of the Fuyuki Wars. Namely, the high levels of destruction and unnecessary bloodshed. So they changed a couple of things." She took a deep breath, and the Saber in white promptly took advantage of the pause to stand up and move over to the other sofa, so as not to block the way.

"One." She lifted one finger. "There will be three arbitrators watching the War and the Grail vessel. They will be three impartial, unaffiliated magi who will make sure that the rules of the War are followed. If someone were to cross the line, the three magi will either promptly eliminate the rule breaker or, if their strength were not enough, call upon any remaining participants in the War to do so."

"Two." She lifted a second finger. "In order to prevent another corrupted Grail, the founders of the Grail War created a failsafe system for the Grail to automatically purge any impurities from gathered mana. The purged impurities will then take a physical form inside the reality marble that the Grail is currently generating, and any Master can then enter the reality marble to harvest the mana by destroying the impurities."

At that point, Saber raised her brow. _If only the Fuyuki Holy Grail had that capability_, she thought. _Though, how is that even possible?_ Amber looked into her eyes and shook her head. "It would take me about thirty minutes to explain the system to an experienced and knowledgeable magus, and you are not one, so I will not bother."

"But, a reality marble? Do you mean to say the Grail has-" Saber's eyes glinted of incredulity.

"The Grail from Fuyuki can summon Servants who can summon reality marbles, and that's with only sixty years of stored mana. There's a reason it's regarded as omnipotent, and there's a reason you've been trying to find it all your life," Amber sighed. Without waiting for a response, she held up a third finger. "Three, which is related to two: Servants can no longer revert to a spiritual form without entering the Grail's reality marble."

"What!" Saber exclaimed.

Amber shrugged. "That never stopped you from winning the Grail Wars. Now, to continue; the reality marble will be what Servants can freely switch back and forth to. The marble is a carbon copy of Keizoku City, and it is recommended that Masters battle within the marble. With physical contact, a Servant can bring a Master with them into the reality marble, so you don't have to worry about being stranded here. And that…" She began to wave her hand. "That is the reason why you will all have to blend in around here as best as you can. I mean, yes, you could just tell your Servant to stay inside the reality marble, but that would make it glaringly obvious, and since transportation between the two takes a few seconds, you would leave yourself open to an attack in the real world."

"Four…wait, was there a fourth change?" She scratched her head. "Oh, right! Once the War begins, new Masters can no longer be appointed, and Servants cannot switch their Masters. If a Master were to die, the Servant would too in the following minutes. If a Servant were to die, the command seals would instantly be harvested by the Holy Grail, and would not be redistributed unless under very special circumstances and agreed upon by all three arbitrators. This is to prevent another Kirei Kotomine or another Gilgamesh…" she trailed off for a moment and muttered something under her breath, which Saber was unable to hear even after straining her ears. "Anyway, that means that those command seals are even more important than they used to be. You're pretty handicapped there, because you only have two command seals, so in essence you have only one split between two Servants."

"Two? Are Masters now only granted two command seals?" Saber inquired, looking at the strange markings on her right hand.

"No, no, it's because you're a special case," Amber said.

"My Master will not require any command seals to win the Grail, as I am her Servant!" The Saber in red suddenly broke in, eliciting a giggle from the Saber in white.

"Hah. And finally, there will be absolutely no killing of civilians unless under an extreme circumstance, or mass destruction of property, so none of the shenanigans from the Fuyuki Holy Grail Wars. Any who try to do so will be swiftly and deftly, and probably painfully, punished. And those are all the new rules I can remember right now." Amber sighed in relief.

There was a moment of silence as the information sank into Saber's head. _Keeping as much of the city out of the War as possible, a failsafe system, and a reality marble for Servants to keep the battle contained._ The thoughts all seemed to calm her, as the corners of her lips slowly crept upwards. "It appears the organizers of this Holy Grail War have put much more effort to make it an honorable battle for one's dreams."

Amber snorted. "Well, of course! They had three failures of Holy Grail Wars to learn from, and the mana has been saved over four generations. Hell if they're going to let something screw it all up again!"

The Saber in white giggled.

_So if I won, would my wish finally be granted? Though, I have promised Shirou that I would no longer seek to change the past…_ Saber's eyes drooped. _What would I wish for? What could I wish for?_ "Well, regardless of my victory or loss, at the very least the War will finally be a truly honorable battle between heroes," she said.

"Bah, enough talk! Come, Master, and we shall settle this War tonight!" The Saber in red shot up from the sofa with a terribly discontent expression. From thin air, a jagged and absurdly long sword appeared in her right hand, which she swung left and right.

"Hah, aren't you an impatient one," Amber chuckled.

"A lowly peasant such as you should not mock a majestic emperor such as I!" was the reply, along with a sword pointed at her throat.

"Saber, do not be so impolite," Saber commanded. "Lower your sword from the magus who summoned your Master."

"Hmph." The sword disappeared, and the Saber in red crossed her arms and slumped back onto the sofa.

"Unfortunately, the three of you will have to wait until at least tomorrow to actually do anything," Amber said, completely ignoring the glowering eyes of the red Servant. "Your Master and I are both all tuckered out from summoning you two, so we're going to need a good night's rest and then we're going to have to buy some proper clothes so you don't stick out like sore thumbs."

_That reminds me._ "Amber, how did you transfer mana to me?"

"Magic." She yawned, preventing any further discussion. The Saber in white giggled.

"And the command seals? Are you…are you a Master yourself?"

She lowered her eyes. She pushed the back of her hands in front of Saber's face; there were no markings on them. "Does it look like I'm a Master? What happened to 'no more questions'?"

"Then-"

"It's almost three, so I'm going back to my room." Amber stood up and brushed herself off. She picked up her bag and made her way to the exit. "I trust the two of you will take excellent care of your Master while I'm gone."

The Saber in white nodded, while the Saber in red declared, "Everything is in my hands, including the Holy Grail. Prepare yourself, girl, to see my dashingly beautiful victory over the puny enemy Servants, and then bask in the glory of my Master and me!"

Amber snorted in reply. "Okay."

"Good night, Amber."

"Good night, white Saber. Eh, I think you guys should figure out a better system with the names. My mouth would go dry calling you White Saber and Red Saber or Saber #1 and Saber #2. Sort it out when you wake up, Arturia." She smiled and stopped in front of the door.

"Amber," Saber called out, with a most strange expression on her face.

"Hm?" She turned around as her hand reached for the knob.

She paused. The longer she heard Amber speak, the more familiar she seemed. There was something uncanny about the upbeat girl. "I just- well, who are you, really? Why have you given me so much aid? Command seals, Servants, a place to live…so much preparation and time and resources; why do you use it all on me?"

Amber raised her brow. "Because I'm your friend," she replied, as her head disappeared behind the door. "As I've always been," she added in an inaudible voice, her eyes lowering down to the ground. But her expression quickly returned to a cheerful one. "Sweet dreams, Arturia." The door closed as the clock struck three.  
**[2.1: Storm of Swords, _End_]**

* * *

**Author's Note  
**Slight revisions, once again. As for the Status Menu, it will be used whenever Arturia "scans" another Servant. As for why she's there, while she is no longer a Servant, she still possesses Servant level abilities. The (-) signifies decreases in the original stats, up to the parameters being halved.

* * *

**Extra - Status Menu (As seen from the eyes of Arturia Pendragon. While Arturia herself is no longer a Servant and cannot be scanned by any others, she still possesses Servant-level parameters, though lowered further than her weakened state with Shirou and then lowered even further due to the strain of her own Servants.)  
**

**Arturia Pendragon**  
**Height/Weight: 154cm, 42kg**  
Strength: C-  
Mana: C-  
Endurance: E  
Agility: D-  
Luck: D-  
Noble Phantasm: N/A

**White Saber  
****Height/Weight: 154cm, 44kg**  
Strength: C-  
Mana: B-  
Endurance: B-  
Agility: B-  
Luck: D-  
Noble Phantasm: C

**Red Saber****  
****Height/Weight: 145cm, 43kg**  
Strength: A-  
Mana: E  
Endurance: B-  
Agility: C-  
Luck: E  
Noble Phantasm: B


	3. Chapter 03

Crimson flames, flickering and soaring, illuminating the night; a city, drenched in darkness, soaked in blood. Save for the growing fire and crumbling houses, the city was still and empty. Nothing moved, nothing breathed, and nothing spoke to break the eerie silence. Of course. There was no one in the city, except for a girl and a boy. He was locked in an embrace with her, and she was staring with glazed eyes straight ahead, past his face. He was a red headed teenager, dressed casually in a simple long sleeved shirt and blue jeans. His hands were around back, and he was smiling when they fell downwards and hung limp. The girl responded by blinking. Her emerald eyes blinked rapidly, ten times over three seconds, until tears came forth. She moved her gaze, moved it over to the boy, her head twitching.

"Shirou…?" she breathed. He slumped forward onto her. He was a few inches taller than her and many pounds heavier, but she was a strong one. She was easily capable of standing with his weight against her, but she flinched anyway. Because she felt it.

Her eyes widened, and she tried to step backwards. She tripped and fell over, and he landed on top of her. His eyes were closed, and his chest did not heave from breathing. What was more, his shirt was stained in red, and a thin trickle of blood flowed from his mouth. She had felt the wetness of his shirt. And she knew.

"Shirou!" she cried. She pushed herself up and cradled his body. Her head spun frantically around her, as her unbound blonde hair swung back and forth from the rapid movements. Nothing but ruin and death surrounded her. She focused her attention back on the boy. "Shirou, answer me!"

The tears began to stream down. Her heart heaved; she felt terribly nauseous and dizzy. Her throat dried up as she began to shake his body. Her voice cracked. "Shi- Shirou, please. Please, Shirou, don't leave me. Not again," she whimpered, pressing her forehead against his cheek. She sniffled as she placed her hand on his heart to find a beat.

There was no heart. There was nothing there but a gaping hole, and the blood had long since stopped dripping. And she only cried even harder. "Shirou, Shirou, Shirou!" she sobbed, repeating his name over and over again. "No. No, I beg you, don't go. Don't leave me."

But it was pointless.

Her hands shook. Her fingers trembled. But she hugged him. She hugged him as hard as she could, with the little strength she could muster in her. She bit her lip, and with one deep breath, she let out a heart wrenching scream. It was a scream filled with agony and pain, a scream that no one else would ever hear. It echoed over and over again, each time getting lower in volume, until the crackling of the flames drowned it away. But no one could hear it. She was alone in her sorrow, alone in her pain and alone in her life once more.  
**[3.1: Interlude – Re/Collection, **_**End**_**]**

* * *

The girl opened her eyes. She was slim and small in stature, with brilliant golden hair bound into a ponytail and empty green eyes. She was dressed in an unzipped black sweater over a white tube top and jean shorts. She pushed herself off the wall and uncrossed her arms as a boy exited the mall with three large plastic bags on his lap. She made her way towards him; the large guitar case strapped to her back and her brown boots made no sound as she walked. Leaning close to his ears, she said, "Master, such work should be left for me. You have no need to do such menial work."

Ueda Kishimoto frowned. Leaning close to her ears, he said, "I won't have to do anything once we win the Holy Grail, so why can't I do a few things now?" The sun peeked out from behind a passing cloud, and the sudden light took him by surprise. He turned away and shielded his eyes. The bags nearly fell off from his sudden movement.

He was a sickly thing. His skin was pallid, his eyes bore no energy, his lips were pale, his hair was thin and short and his voice was cracked and weak. Even while bundled in a thick, black sweater, much like the girl's, he shivered when a cool breeze brushed past him.

"It would not do for you to catch a cold, Master," she whispered back, as she shed her sweater and placed it delicately upon his shoulders.

"But I'm already sick," he grumbled back. Still, he shifted and snuggled himself underneath the extra, makeshift blanket. He closed his eyes as the bags were lifted off his lap and placed upon the handles of the wheelchair. "Whatever. Let's go back, Saber," he muttered.

She nodded in reply and began to cart him through the busy streets. One, two, three, and she stopped on the fourth step. She furrowed her brows and pursed her lips. When she spoke, her voice was terribly low and quiet, and she whispered directly into his ear. "Master, have you properly concealed your Command Seals?"

"What?" He opened one eye. "What do you mean?"

But her attention was no longer on her Master. Rather, she stared through the corner of her eyes at the dark silhouette, looming in the alleyway on the street opposite them. Though it was covered in shadows by the surrounding buildings and obscured by the mass of passing cars, her hawk-like eyes did not miss the pair of eyes glaring at them. There was no mistaking the aura that permeated from the person. No, it was no person.

"It would be unwise to return home right now. You have been spotted." Her gaze never left the other Servant. Her shoulders tensed, and her grip on the wheelchair tightened.

"What?!" Ueda bounced back awake, and his head swiveled wildly. His eyes darted to and fro, but all he found was a number of raised eyebrows from passersby at his sudden, strange behavior. "How? And is it a Servant or a Master?" he whispered back as she pushed him under a shade.

"The Command Seals emit an aura that other Servants and Masters can sense. The aura can be easily concealed or disguised, but you have not done so. It was my mistake. I failed to remember that you were not a proper Master, and failed again to remind you." She blinked. Her face was expressionless when she spoke. "It is a Servant." She began to push her Master away from the view of the alleyway.

"Wait, what are you doing?" Ueda hissed, craning his neck at the direction of her gaze. "If it's a Servant, you should go fight him. That's what you're here for!"

"It would be unwise to engage in battle before we have gathered proper reconnaissance and in my current cond-"

"Saber, you can win the fight, right?" he interrupted. His eyes appeared to be gleaming.

She opened her mouth, but paused. After a moment, she shook her head. "Of course, I can win, but I recommend against a battle because-"

And her Master interrupted her again. "You're going to have to fight sooner or later. Why not now while we know he's there instead of later, when we might get caught unprepared."

She bit her lip. "If you so desire, Master, I will fight. However, we must first find you a safe haven, or at least a more secluded area to shift into the reality marble."

* * *

Home was much too risky, so they made their way to the park two streets down from the mall. Saber wheeled her Master behind the public restroom and placed her hand upon his shoulder. After a quick scan for potential witnesses, she closed her eyes and her lips parted. She muttered something so quiet that Ueda could not hear, and in one blink, everything changed. The noises from the cars, the wildlife and the people had all ceased. The city was now tinted in a shade of blue, and white lines crisscrossed and ran throughout the environment. It was as if the city had been engulfed by the sea, and a digital sea at that.

Peering out of the space between the restrooms and the park fence, Ueda could see that even the people were shaded in blue and marked by gridlines. Only Saber and he were unaffected. "Is this the Holy Grail's reality marble?" he breathed in awe.

"Yes." She frowned. "The reality marble is an identical copy of the real world. However, bystanders will be untouched by any activity within the marble, and the buildings outside will be unaffected by collateral damage in here. After a period of time, the buildings here will revert back to their former state, regardless of the level of destruction, unless there are obstructions." She walked a few feet in front of her Master. Unfortunately, there was nowhere for him to take cover. She would have to protect him for the duration of the fight. She took a deep breath, raised her head, and unslung the black case from her back, allowing it to fall with a thud onto the ground. "But now is not the time to be impressed."

Ueda looked at Saber, and then at the direction that she was glaring at. Across the open stretch of the park, standing at the edge of the six story building facing them, was a towering, menacing figure, also unaffected by the marble's markings. The figure fell off the building and crashed into the sidewalk below.

Her Master's eyes were too weak to see, but she could tell from the sheer aura that the Servant emitted that the Servant could be none other than a Berserker. The sword; was it a Roman spatha? And his armor, could it be that he was a-? Then she saw his eyes, and she knew.

"Master, stay back!" Saber screamed as she kicked the case into the air. It opened, revealing a thin, silver sword that she grabbed with her right hand.

Barely a moment later, Ueda felt the enormous, powerful impact of the enemy Servant slamming into his own Servant. His speed was incredible, astounding! Ueda hadn't even the time to blink before the Servant had dashed across the entire stretch of the park.

The ground underneath Saber cracked as she locked swords with Berserker. He was a towering figure, seven and a half feet in height, with muscles all over his body as big as her head. He growled and swung his sword again to meet a block by her sword. Though neither blade so much as touched the ground, the floor exploded from the sheer force of the blows.

She shifted her feet, redirected a swing away from her head and thrust her own sword. The sword bit flesh, and there was a spurt of blood, but the wound only seemed to intensify the strength of Berserker's blows. The giant made no sound as he swung down his sword with alarming speed. Diagonal cut, horizontal swing, vertical slash; his movements were nothing more than a blur, a deadly maelstrom that steadily pushed her back.

She appeared to be winning. Each hack drew blood. It was an insignificant amount every time, mostly superfluous wounds and minor trickles, but they began to add up. Three cuts on his left arm as she twirled the sword into a backhand grip. Two cuts on his chest as she changed hands. One cut on his cheek as she jumped over a devastating sweep that left a crater upon the floor. Four cuts on his legs for each time she parried a swing, as she redirected her sword into his flesh.

But in reality, she was losing ground. Her offensives were not enough to push back the giant, and he was getting closer and closer to her Master. Any closer and her Master would be in the line of fire. She furrowed her brow and channeled a greater concentration of prana through her blows. She parried another slash aimed low; the force behind the slash still managed to create a two-inch-deep crater in the ground. With his sword in an unfavorable position, she gathered energy and gave him a ferocious gash across his chest.

Then he lunged. Following a vicious swing aimed at her head that was promptly parried, he whirled around on his feet and added the momentum of the parry onto his second attack. The blow came quick, and Saber barely had the time to bend her knees backwards as the blade came like a gust a mere inch from her face. She steadied her stance, and as the blade spun away from her for a third attack, she flipped her own sword into a backhanded grip. She slashed at his exposed back and drew a fountain of blood as he continued to twirl.

But the giant only seemed to gain even more speed from the two inch deep gash behind his hips. Before she could remove the weapon from his body, he had turned a full circle and dislodged the sword from her grip. Now facing her, he thrust his sword at her unarmored torso.

She was still bent backwards at nearly a right angle, and she was unarmed. As the blade came down, she realized that evasion would be impossible. So she did the only thing she could. As the sword dug into her flesh, between the very last of her ribs, she clapped her hands onto it. And she emitted a devastating burst of prana that sent Berserker flying backwards. She straightened herself.

Ueda could see the tip protruding just slightly out of his Servant's back. A thin line of blood trickled down. His eyes widened. "Saber!"

"I am fine, Master," she said. Even as she took the handle of the sword and pulled it out of her body, eliciting a sudden squirt and flow of blood, her face still held no emotion. She wasn't fine, either. Her wound continued to bleed, with little sign of clotting, while Berserker's had begun to close up. He too had pulled out her sword and tossed it back, far from her reaches. Still, she stood with her head held high, her hands clenched in tight fists at her sides.

"What? No, you're not fine! It's barely been a minute, and you're already hurt!" Ueda shouted back. He began to wheel his way towards his Servant, but stopped when she raised a hand at him.

"It is the duty of a Servant to fight for his or her Master to the death. You have given me an order, and I will follow it past the limits of my abilities. Please, have faith in your Servant. I can handle Berserker." As she spoke, black mist began to envelop her hands. They seemed to appear from her elbow, and swirled around and downwards to her fists.

"You don't even have your sword with you," he said incredulously. "How- what are you going to fight with?"

Berserker knew, and he cracked his knuckles. His lips creased upwards in a smile, and he cocked his head in amusement. "The proud knight class wants to fight with her bare hands? How surprising."

Saber cocked her own head, but there was no amusement on her face, only a grim frown and a blank stare. "And the mad Servant can think and speak at the same time? How surprising." She flexed her hands.

"Saber!" Ueda shouted in disbelief. How was she going to fight bare-handed?

But she paid his words no heed. Clenching her fists tight again, she took one step forward and then dashed the ten feet between her and her enemy with another step. She ducked her head against a swing aimed at her head. Gathering an intense concentration of prana, she punched into his stomach and launched him through the fence of the park and into the streets.

And Ueda's eyes widened even more.

Saber stretched her fingers, and even from the distance Ueda could hear the knuckles crack. She cocked her head again. "Were my hands a little too soft for you, Berserker?"

The scar ridden face of Berserker lifted up from the cement and smiled. "Good," he growled. Then he shifted into a kneeling position and made a cross guard with his arms around his head. And he rushed forward. Saber barely had time to widen her eyes and sidestep the tackle as he flew past her; the sheer momentum of his charge sent her skidding backwards. He was already turning around, and his feet cracked the ground underneath as he charged in another tackle. She dodged the assault once more, and felt the gust barrel past her. Wind going at nearly a hundred miles an hour smashed her left as she jumped to the right, smashed her face as she jumped backwards, smashed her back as she jumped forward.

She felt nicks on her cheek, nicks on her bare legs and nicks on her exposed arms. The debris that flew past with him was enough to scratch her; she could not allow a direct hit. But he always went too far to allow a counterattack.

Berserker turned as he readied himself for yet another tackle. This time, though, Saber dug her feet into the ground and retracted her fist. She knew the futility of being on the defensive without a chance to counterattack. She only had one option, and as she focused, the black swirls doubled in intensity. She would have to counter brute strength and overwhelming force with brute strength and unrelenting defense.

He roared and launched himself forward, accelerating from zero to one hundred miles per hour in a quarter of a second. He seemed to simply teleport from his original position to a foot in front of her, but she was just as fast; she punched at the charging form with a fist engulfed in prana. And just like the crashing of two trains, the crash of the two powers resulted in an explosion that sent the two Servants flying backwards. Berserker disappeared outside the park, while Saber created a gaping hole where the wall of the restroom had been.

"Saber!" Ueda wheeled himself slowly to the hole. There was a great sound of cracking and crumbling, and he coughed and wheezed from the giant storm of dust. When he peered into the wreckage, he found her, impaled by a pipe where her wound had been. Her right arm, scratched and gashed and bleeding, hung limply at her side. Her left arm was pushing against the rubble, and her face was contorted in pain. Blood ran freely down above her left eye, which was shut tight, and her mouth.

"Saber! Holy shit!" He whimpered in his wheelchair, unable to even help his Servant up. He was on the verge of tears from just looking at her feeble state.

She took a deep breath, and as her right eye widened, she screamed and pushed herself off the pipe. There was a sickening crunch and splatter as she stumbled forward, a thick goblet of red dropping and staining the ground. But when she looked up at her Master, her eye was not empty or pained. Was it determination that burned in the now shining, emerald eye? She pushed herself up, and steadied her breathing. "Fear not, Master. I will not fall that easily." She took a step forward.

"What the hell do you mean? You're beaten to a pulp!" Ueda cried.

"I will not rest until my Master is safe," she coughed. She held her right arm with her left hand. After a deep breath, there was a terrible sound of snapping, and she winced and vomited another cup of blood. "Besides." She turned to Ueda and smiled but for a second. "These are only flesh wounds."

"Well, no shit they're flesh wounds! What other kind of wounds are there? And what do you mean, you won't rest? You beat Berser-" He was stopped by an earsplitting roar, and he quickly turned to the source of the sound. There, standing in quite the battered shape, was a smiling Berserker. "What- no, that's impossible."

"It appears Berserker only gets stronger the more wounded he is." He turned at her voice and saw the grimace. She was gathering prana again, but miraculously enough, she seemed to be gathering even more prana than he had ever seen before. The power radiated from her; it was an aura of blood thirst and war that matched the crazed Servant smiling at them thirty feet away. "Master, are you cold?"

Ueda was baffled at the question. His mouth hung open and it rose and fell over and over again. "What? No," he managed to mutter.

Saber took her black sweater off his lap and wrapped it around the gaping hole under her chest. She bound it and tied it tight, and then clenched her fists and stepped forward. He noticed now in the sunlight that her legs were covered in bruises of varying colors and sizes.

Her Master was stupefied. "How can you fight in that condition, Saber? Stop! That Servant is insane. Just retreat for now."

"Berserker would kill us in the five seconds of transition time back into Keizoku, and you are in no condition to outrun him to a safe location," Saber replied. "No, Master, there is no escape from this battle."

"But-"

"Do you have that little trust in your orders, Master? In me?" She frowned.

And Ueda stopped in his protests.

Berserker and Saber walked towards each other. When they were five feet apart, they stopped and investigated the other's wounds. Berserker's smile grew wider. "You are a worthy opponent, Saber. Very few can match my strength when I am wounded so."

"Those garments, the Roman gladius, the ability to speak even as a Berserker, and more power the more injuries… Hmph, do you even try to conceal your identity?"

"A Roman gladiator has no identity, Saber. No identity, no freedom, no life. What is there to conceal? My Master must be pretty mad that I can still speak." Berserker clenched his fists and ceased smiling. "My Master has never heard of a Saber who enjoys hand to hand combat. But I am glad. I have not had a brawl in a very long time."

And the fighting began once more. The two Servants seemed to become even faster and even stronger now that they were bleeding from head to toe. Ueda's eyes could no longer keep up with the punches and jabs and kicks; it was nothing more than a whirlwind to him.

Saber punched Berserker in the gut and sent a torrential blast of prana into the attack, and followed up with an uppercut with a similar force that would have blasted a concrete wall into pieces, but he responded by smashing his chin into the fist with even greater power. She withdrew her fist and swept at his legs, knocking him off his feet, but not onto the ground. He fell onto his hands and pushed back with his feet aimed at her head. She did not dodge the flying kick, but grabbed onto the legs and twirled kicked him in the chin once more as he landed.

She jabbed at his face with her left elbow and heard a distinct crack as his cheekbone splintered, while he gave her an uppercut into the hole in her chest that ended with a squishing sound. Both coughed blood as they continued the brutal fight. His next punch met empty air, but the concussive force that surrounded his fist was more than enough to bruise her cheek. She headbutted him in reply, and both of them stumbled back, dazed from the hit. She recovered faster though, and connected her knuckles with his nose. He was sent flying back once more, but not before giving her a glancing kick.

As she skidded back in front of her Master, stray debris flew and nicked Ueda in the cheek. He was much too shocked at the third bout to notice, though. Had it even lasted fifteen seconds? He couldn't tell; he had no way to keep track of time. What he did know, though, was that each Servant had launched at least a hundred blows at each other in that short period.

Berserker stood up from his crater. He turned his head away from them, and seemed to look off into the distance. When he turned back around, he cocked his head and shrugged. "It appears my Master is highly displeased at my disobedience and showcasing of my abilities. That will be it for today, Saber. It was a pleasure to battle a knight unafraid to dirty her hands, and an even greater pleasure to battle you so close to my limits." He nodded.

Saber nodded back. Much to Ueda's astonishment, the two of them walked over to pick up their opponent's sword, walked to each other, bowed and handed back the weapons. They even shook hands. The towering Servant turned around and jumped atop a building away from the park. She looked at Ueda, and tilted her head. "Master, you're bleeding." She wiped at the small cut with her thumb.

The boy shrunk back from her hand and he rolled his eyes. "I'm bleeding?" he said in a sarcastic tone. "Well, what about you? You're… you're…" He didn't even have enough words to describe her anymore. Battered, bruised, bloodied, beaten, blue, black…

She tilted her head, and gave him a tiny smile. "Fine?"

Ueda blinked. And smacked his forehead.  
**[3.2: Interlude – Saber, **_**End**_**]**

* * *

"More please," Amber mumbled with a full mouth. Atop her outstretched hand was an empty bowl, picked clean of any rice, sauce or other food. She stared at White Saber with pleading eyes, and the Servant raised her brow, smiled and brought the bowl into the kitchen for seconds.

Or, rather, fourths. That was Amber's fourth bowl, and the bowls weren't exactly small to begin with. Arturia had only started on her third, while White Saber was almost done with her second and Red Saber halfway done. So when White Saber came back with a bowl filled to the brim with rice and unagi and rich unagi sauce, Arturia was glad that Amber had bought such a large amount for them.

The white haired girl had appeared as soon as Arturia woke from her slumber. She had knocked on the door and entered with a large bag, of which permeated a mouth-watering aroma. With not the least bit of hesitation she began to set the table with the help of White Saber, who kept her brow raised all the while. And now they were eating in general silence, save for Amber's occasional request for more.

_Wait._ She cleared her throat. "Amber, you said the Holy Grail War has begun. Why are we sitting here, eating?"

The white haired girl lowered the bowl from her face, her cheeks stuffed to the brim. The bowl was somehow already half empty. There was an awkward silence as she chewed and bit and swallowed until she was capable of speaking. "Well, um," she mumbled, careful not to spit out any of the food inside. "Battles can't be won on an empty stomach, you know?"

As much as Arturia wanted to continue to eat, she decided that there were important matters to settle. That, and as delicious as the food was, it still paled compared to Shirou's cooking. She set her own bowl down. "I have eaten enough. I would like to speak of the issues at hand."

Amber looked around the table. White Saber, similar to her Master, had set her bowl down and begun to stare at her with a stern look. She was also sitting Japanese-style on the cushions between the table and the sofas. Red Saber, on the other hand, continued to eat with her eyes closed and her legs crossed. She sat on the sofa and appeared to pay no attention to their conversation. Amber forced the rest of the meal into her mouth, set her bowl down, and scratched her head. Another awkward silence while she finished chewing. Tick, tock, tick, tock. She gulped everything down. "Okay? What do you want to talk about? Damn, you stopped asking questions and started making questioning requests? You're pretty tricky, Arturia." She glanced at the two Servants. "Wait, do you know who your Servants are? Actually, no, better question: do you have some kind of name you can call them other than Saber? I mean, some idiot might accept that as a normal name for a foreigner, but you'd be putting up a pretty big flashing neon sign for all the other Masters and Servants to see. Or hear."

Arturia frowned. Both of her Servants had refused to disclose their true names. _"You may call me Lily, if Saber is inconvenient for you, Master. Is that my true name? Somewhat, I assume. That was the name that those close to me gave me. Oh… if you truly wish for it, I will tell you. However, I must apologize Master, but I would very much prefer it if I was not forced to disclose it."_ And just like that, White Saber had ended the conversation with a smile and retired for the night. There was no chance to pursue the question, not that Arturia really wanted to. There was no reason to damage the relationship between Master and Servant over such a matter. She herself had not told Shirou her identity until he deduced it after her battle with Rider.

As for the red Saber, she was much more troubling. "_You are my Master, and I am your Servant. There is no need to exchange petty details like names. Rest assured; I will end the Holy Grail War in a single stroke! If you do not wish to call me Servant, then call me Saber. That will be a suitable name, Praetor."_ And with a yawn, she too retired. At least Lily had given her a name. How was she to, as Amber said, blend into the city filled with twice the number of Masters as previous Wars when her Servant insisted on being called a very conspicuous Saber?

"We have decided that I am to be named Lily," Lily said, snapping Arturia out of her reminiscence. She smiled.

"Lily? Oh, I guess that makes sense, with the lily-like dress and everything. What about you?" Amber said, now looking towards Red Saber.

She opened her eyes. "Saber."

"Huh. That's funny. I thought I just said that Saber would be a terrible name to use in public."

_Last night, Saber called me Praetor before she retired. Could she be…?_ "Saber, are you Roman?" Arturia asked.

Saber raised an eyebrow, and smiled widely. She raised her chin in triumph. "Of course! A majestic Heroic Spirit such as I can only hail from a majestic empire such as Rome!"

"How'd you guess that?" Amber said, leaning back against the sofa. Before there was a reply, she quickly added, "Wait, I don't need to know. Well, since you're a Roman, Saber, and since you love Rome so much, how about we call you Rome? Wait, no, you're a girl, so it should end in –a like all girl names do. Hm, yes, how about Roma? Damn, that's a great idea, Amber. Yes, let's call Saber 'Roma' from now on." She nodded to herself.

Arturia and 'Roma' were left speechless at the girl's monologue. Lily giggle, but cleared her throat and straightened when her two mirror images turned to her.

"Good. Now names are out of the way. What's next?" Amber cocked her head and gave a coy smile.

Arturia hesitated. There were a number of questions she wanted to ask, but which ones should she ask first? A question about the Holy Grail War? A question about her summoning, or Amber's- _No, I should not ask the same question again._ She cleared her throat. "Amber, you said the Holy Grail War has officially begun, correct?"

"Yes…"

"And there are fourteen Servants for this War. Since I have summoned two Sabers, are there two of each class?"

"Oh, no." Amber reached into her shirt pocket. She pulled out her phone and flicked at the screen a couple of times with her thumb. "Let's see… there are three Sabers, two Lancers, two Archers, two Riders, two Casters, two Berserkers and one Assassin. Hm. Well, I guess it's two of each for the most part. It's probably a little strange because you summoned two at once, after the first Saber had been summoned."

She peered at the phone in a questioning manner.

Amber noticed the look, and held the phone for the Master to see. "Oh, are you looking at this thing? This is a smartphone, but with a special application made for the Holy Grail War. It's got announcements by the arbitrators and the classes of the remaining Servants." She smiled and tossed it over. "It's funny, because most magi are terribly with technology. You can have it."

Arturia looked at the strange, foreign, brightly lit object. She tilted her head. "This application… is the Holy Grail War not supposed to be secretive? Why is-"

"Oh, the only people who can access the application are Masters and maybe Servants, or just anyone with Command Seals, so there's nothing to worry about there." Amber paused with her mouth open, as if she said something she shouldn't have. "Uh, I mean, there are certain ways around it, but you would only try to do them if you already knew about the Grail War, so that's not a problem."

"Oh, I see." She looked more closely at the phone. April 1st was the month and day, and the year… "Amber, how long has it been since the Fuyuki Holy Grail War?"

"Hm? Two years, I think it was?" She crossed her legs, and noticed the slight intake of breath from Arturia and the quizzical look on Lily's face. But when she raised her brow, she looked back over at Arturia. "What's the matter, worried about Shirou? Don't worry, he's doing fine. Or at least, he isn't dead."

Arturia blushed. "Ah, no, I was simply wondering."

"Sure you were." Amber nodded, the coy smile back on her face. She always seemed to be smiling. "You can't contact him anyway. "

"What!? Why not?" Her response was quite sudden for her two Servants, both of who gave her a strange look afterwards.

"Haha, see? You were worried about Shirou." The girl blushed, and Amber chuckled and continued. Lily giggled at her Master as well. "The Holy Grail War this time is an absolute secret from anyone, especially anyone outside of Keizoku City. If the arbitrators find out that you contacted an outsider, swift punishment would be dealt." When she saw the Master's shoulders sag, she chuckled again. "It must be painful, to have him so close yet not be able to go to him. Oh well, maybe that will give you motivation to finish this one quickly."

Roma shot up from the sofa at the word 'finish.' She had a little pout on her face, and her arms were crossed. "Yes, Praetor, we should finish this quickly! We have talked more than enough, and now it is time for a fight!" There was a full minute of silence as the three other girls in the room stared at the short Servant dressed in red.

"Yeah, sure, let's go fight while your Master is weak and dazed, and while the two of you are weak and dazed because she's weak and dazed, and when you know nothing about any of the other Servants or Masters. That's a wonderful idea," Amber said, rolling her eyes. "So tell me, how do you plan on starting some fights?"

Roma growled at her. "Simple. I will enter the reality marble and broadcast my aura, and swiftly defeat any who challenge me." She raised her chin. "With Praetor as my Master, no enemy Servant can stand a chance, even if she is not at full strength. The Grail War will end in a day, and Praetor can then see this Shirou person with the Holy Grail." She stopped pouting and started smiling at her words, even nodding at the end in total agreement.

"Well, if she's the best of the best from the Romans, then I can see why Rome fell." Amber shrugged. Lily giggled, Arturia raised her brow and Roma glared at her with murderous eyes. "It's a good thing Arturia's not that stupid. Probably. But Lily, you haven't spoken very much this entire morn- er, afternoon."

Lily turned away when her Master turned her attention towards her. "I am…not near my full potential. Perhaps it is because Master was talented enough to summon two Servants at once but…I do not think we would be prepared to engage in battle."

Roma grumbled. "Praetor has two Servants at her command. That is twice the strength and twice the power. There is no chance of defeat."

"Twice of zero is still zero," Amber breathed.

"What was that?"

"Nothing. But last I checked, Arturia's circuits were barely used." She stroked her chin. "Um, Arturia, you wouldn't mind if I check everyone's circuits, would you?"

"I…I would not mind, Amber, but I am not sure if-" Arturia was met with a nod from Lily.

Roma stared at her for some time, before she sighed. "If Praetor wishes for it."

"Then you may," Arturia responded. Amber shrugged.

"Oh, that's…interesting," Amber whispered when she examined Lily. She looked at Arturia, then at Lily, then at Arturia again. "That is very, very interesting." She stroked her chin for a few seconds, now looking at Lily, and nodded her head. "You're…" but she stopped when the Servant tilted her head. Amber shook her head and shrugged as she moved onto Roma.

Roma growled at her when she touched her forehead, and she chuckled in response. Only a second later, Amber withdrew her hand and laughed out loud. "Okay." She moved on with a grin on her face, and it took all of the red Servant's willpower to not lash out. Her hands were clenched in tight fists, her legs were stiff and she was clearly gnashing her teeth.

But Amber didn't care. She was much too busy frowning when she went up to Arturia. She touched the Master's forehead for only a second, and then withdrew and sighed. She shook her head continuously in disapproval, eliciting a questioning expression on the faces of the three others in the room.

"I can't really believe it, so I have to ask. Arturia, how much prana do you regenerate each day by yourself?"

"Hm?" Arturia paused. "During the previous Holy Grail War, with Shirou as my Master and without a proper connection, I regenerated… eight units a day. It appears to be the same even now," she replied, with a good degree of hesitation in the last sentence.

Amber whistled and began to massage her brow. "Wow, that's more than a thirteenth of what you should be regenerating. That's simply amazing. Astounding. How do you even survive with that little- no, I already know why. Arturia, I understand the whole 'magecraft is not the way of the King' spiel', but I… those amazing circuits of yours were given to you for a reason, you know." Amber smacked her forehead. "All this untapped power, all this untapped prana; this is a waste of my… my energy to reignite all of it."

Arturia was taken aback by the sudden outburst. She withdrew a foot and bowed in apology.

"No, you shouldn't be sorry to me. Well, you could be, but you shouldn't. You should apologize to yourself for handicapping yourself so much. If you were in top shape, you could easily supply the two of them with more than enough prana, but now? It'll take at least a week before your circuits are at a fifth of their full potential." She narrowed her eyes at the uneasy Master. She sighed.

Roma burst forth from her seat. "Who gave you the right to insult my Master?"

Before Arturia could speak and calm down her Servant, Amber had already responded. By blowing a raspberry at the fiery girl. Neither she nor Roma had words to respond with, so they stood dumbfounded while Lily simply shook her head in the back, her lips showing her amusement at the white-haired girl.

Amber shrugged. "Okay, fine. There's no use whining about it now. You'll just have to win the Holy Grail War in a terrible condition. You did it last time, so you can probably do it again. And I guess you'll get better as the days pass."

There was a knock on the door. To everyone's surprise, Amber hopped off the sofa, sauntered over and opened it without a moment's hesitation. They were greeted by the old man from before; he was a foreigner, likely a Caucasian, with pale skin and short, whitened hair. With sunlight shining in, his facial features were much more visible; he had soft, black eyes and a high arching nose, and pale lips that were creased up in a smile. He looked at Amber, and the smile seemed to widen more. "Amber, is everything alright?"

"Yeah, everything is fine. We're ready to go once Lily and Roma change."

"Ah, Amber, where are we going?" Arturia asked.

"There should be extra uniforms in the closet in a few other colors. I think there's a beige one for Lily and a red one for Roma." Amber replied, leaning back onto her grandfather, who placed his hands on her shoulder. "We're going into the city! Where else? You don't expect to just sit in the dormitory for the entirety of the War, do you?"

* * *

After a quick "reigniting of Arturia's magic circuits," which seemed to be Amber closing her eyes, placing her palm upon Saber's forehead and moving her lips (and to everyone's further confusion, she simply replied that she could do so because she was a wizard), they spent the next three hours within the grandfather's car.

"What about the other Servants and Masters?" Arturia had asked, holding onto an indignant Roma who insisted on using the opportunity to find and fight some enemies, as they first entered the car.

"The whole aura thing is kept locked and sealed in the real world until you get closer, or your class is Assassin, and it's only really noticeable from a distance inside the reality marble," Amber had replied again, pushing the triplet into the backseats. "I'm doing too much explaining. You should get into the action and figure it out yourself; that'll be best."

And so, as helpful as the white haired girl was, Arturia had to admit that she was still very vague, especially when it came to questions concerning her identity. But her attention soon switched from pondering about a proper course of action to gazing and memorizing the various districts of Keizoku City.

The city was named after and built to surround a shimmering blue, circular lake. At the center of the lake was little island, upon which stood the city hall and the city's sole high school and university. Connecting the island to the rest of the city were four bridges, located in the cardinal directions: north, south, west and east. The city itself was also separated into four districts. To the south, only ten minutes from the dormitory, was the shopping district. There were two enormous malls on opposite ends of the district. Between the two malls were dozens of smaller, privately owned stores and businesses. The north and west were both residential districts, but while Fuyuki held Western homes on one side and Eastern homes on the other, Keizoku separated the residential districts simply by type and price. Apartments and condos lined the west district, while the north held large, one-family houses and mansions. All housing, much like the city itself, was of Western structure and design, and many foreigners could be seen on the sidewalks. Finally, in the east district was everything else vital to a city: the police station, the fire station, the hospital, the main terminal for public transportation and the roads leading to highways out of the city. Keizoku had three parks in total: the smallest one was the hospital park, the largest lay in the shopping district and the final one in the western residential district. Amber made special mention to the parks, and the car traveled particularly slow as they passed them, because they would be prime locations to phase into the reality marble, as they were usually deserted.

The sky had begun to darken when they finished touring the city; so, at Amber's suggestion, they stopped at a small café in the south, somewhat close to home.  
**[3.3: Hurry Go Round, **_**End**_**]**

* * *

The door chime echoed, and a number of heads turned to look at the newcomers. There were a number of customers, and a few raised their eyebrows when Arturia, Lily and Roma walked in. However, the response of a waiter when Amber's grandfather entered was particularly enthusiastic. "Mr. Aurelia! Dad, Mr. Aurelia is back!" The young man seemed to jump in joy as he turned to an older man seated at the register.

The old man promptly shot up from his seat with an enormous grin on his face. He was a burly man too, with a thick, black beard and thick, black hair. He approached the grandfather with his arms outstretched, and they embraced in a warm hug. With a loud, boisterous laugh, he pulled away, though he made sure to shake the old man's hand. "Well, well, well; old Gerald's finally back from England."

"I see your café is still as cozy as ever, Iori," the old man chuckled back. "And it appears business is as good as ever, too."

"Hah, you know it," Iori replied, placing his hands on his hips. He looked at the four girls standing behind Gerald. "And who are these beautiful young ladies?"

"Iori, this is my granddaughter, Ambrosia, and her friends: Arturia, Lily and Roma."

Iori raised an eyebrow. "Are they sisters? Triplets? Hm, why is one shorter but um, more well developed than the others? That doesn't make sense." There was an amused giggle from Lily and Amber, an awkward double-take by Arturia towards Roma and a low growl from the shortest one. "Oh, what's the matter? You don't like it when people talk about your height? I'm sorry, little lady." There was another growl and another pair of giggles. "Oh, I'm terribly sorry. I should shut my mouth before I annoy you more, eh?"

"You never told me you had a granddaughter, Gerald. Damn, she looks an awful like your daughter did. Heck, if I didn't know any better, I'd-" Iori would have continued, but he was interrupted by Gerald's sudden movement towards the tables.

"Ah yes, Iori, if we're to continue talking, we should find a place to sit first. There's no use standing in front of the door, blocking business and all."

"Ah, of course! Come! We have much to talk about!" And so he led them away from the entrance. He stopped in front of a table by the windows, surrounded on two sides by cushioned benches. The girls sat down, but Gerald shook his head.

"I think it would be best if we talked privately, Iori. Best not to bore the young ones with talk of aging men."

"But I like hearing old men talk," Amber chirped in, smiling at her grandfather.

"Hah, I like your granddaughter already. But if you want, Gerald, then we'll talk in the back. Looks like I'll have to brew tea myself today. Takagi, get these young ladies whatever they want. Everything is on the house!" The waiter who had called out Gerald's last name when they entered nodded his head vigorously before he turned his attention back to another set of customers.

"You're far too kind," Gerald Aurelia chuckled as they walked away from the table.

"And you're far too rich. Damn, it feels good to treat rich people."

Amber then took a menu from the corner of the table and began to thumb through it. Roma shifted uncomfortably next to her, trapped between her and the wall. She looked over at Lily and Arturia in a strange, pleading gaze, but soon closed her eyes, crossed her arms and leaned back.

"Well, Arturia, what do you think about the city?" Amber said, breaking their unusual silence after ordering a set of omelets. She gave a quick glance to the clock, and returned the gaze with an earnest look.

"It is very well organized," she responded at length. "It reminds me of Fuyuki."

"I don't think you have any other modern city to compare it to," Amber said, shrugging and taking another glance at the clock with the corner of her eye. "It was finished only fifteen years ago, for the sole purpose of housing the War," she continued, albeit in a lower voice.

"I see. One hundred forty years of preparation, did you say it was?"

"More or less," she answered, resting her head on her palm.

But the three participants of the Holy Grail War paid no heed to her words. They had sensed it, sensed an aura of power that could only belong to one thing: a Servant. And it was close by. Roma opened her eyes and grinned. "Ah, an enemy approaches."

The door chime rang as the door burst open, and the young waiter whipped his head over to look. "Welcome," he said, in awe at the golden haired young man who entered, adorned in magnificent, golden jewelry. A low collared, white shirt he wore, stainless and wrinkle free; over it was a black leather jacket with a furred hood, and he wore pristine black pants. He walked forward to a table next to theirs with an elegant, majestic step, and in a dignified tone very similar to Roma's, he said, "I'll start off with some wine. The best wine; I will not stand for anything but."

Roma's eyes narrowed. Lily did the same, only her face also bored a slight measure of confusion. Arturia was the only one whose eyes widened at the man's presence, and the arm hidden from his view, beside Lily, began to shake. "Gilgamesh?" she breathed, with a mix of surprise, horror and rage.

The man appeared to hear something; he turned to them, and as his eyes saw the three blondes and the single white haired girl, who looked back at him a raised brow, he seemed to smirk. "Oh, three Sabers this time?" he said. "So will I have three wives at the end?"

And Arturia's eyes widened further. "Impossible!" she exclaimed, much to the surprise of her two Servants. "You should have no memories of the-"

"Hmph!" He retorted, standing up and walking closer. "I am the King of Kings! My memories are the greatest treasure that the universe will ever hold, and I hold all the treasures of the universe. A pathetic rule from a little cup that is already mine cannot restrict me."

Lily put her arm over Arturia's chest in a protective manner, pushing her closer, and Roma seemed to seethe from her teeth. "Do not talk to my Master in such a tone, Goldy! Else I cut off your head this very instant, and nail your body upon a cross!"

Amber snickered. "Wow, three seconds and we have nicknames already?"

Gilgamesh ignored the comments and stared at the one who spoke his name. "Make no mistake, Saber. I will not hold back this time, and you will be my wife by the end of the War. Maybe if they're lucky, I shall make your Servants my concubines." He smirked.

Roma rose from her seat. "I will cut you down right now!" Her roar earned the attention of the other customers of the café, and she was promptly pulled back down by Amber.

Amber cleared her throat. "This is a public establishment, and a very beloved place of my grandfather. I will allow no fighting here, not even from you, Lily, or Arturia." She spoke in a stern voice; this was the first time they heard her speak like that. She had narrowed her eyes and frowned, and her grip on Roma's hand was enough to prevent any struggling from the Servant, much to her astonishment. "As for you, Goldy, if you are going to make proposals, I recommend you come with flowers or a ring, or perhaps both, and fly a jet overhead spelling 'I love you' with smoke trails while you kneel before her."

And they were stunned, Arturia in particular.

Gilgamesh frowned. "A mongrel should not speak in a conversation between kings," he said angrily, a look of murderous intent in his eyes. "Who do you think you are?"

"A fucking wizard," she swore with a steely, resolute expression. All eyes were on the two of them as they locked in a deadly staring contest. To Arturia, it seemed as if any moment from now, Gilgamesh would simply call upon Gate of Babylon and skewer the white-haired girl, and in their weakened states, they would be unable to stop him.

"Um, excuse me," came a shy little voice behind them. Amber's face immediately lightened up and her smile returned when she heard it. It was then that they noticed a delightful aroma, and Takagi appeared with four plates of mouth-watering omelets. "Special omelets for the guests of honor," he said meekly, turning his attention back and forth between the rich man and the four ladies.

"Thank you, Takagi, for this wonderful meal," Amber replied sweetly. "Come, come, let us enjoy this food before it gets cold."

Arturia was unsure what to be more surprised of: the snarling tone that she had just spoken with or the complete change in personality once the food arrived. At any rate, Gilgamesh gave them one last, annoyed look before he returned to his own seat, and she let out a breath. It appeared that there would be no fight, at least, not yet.

So they ate awkwardly, unable to appreciate the true flavor of the meal due to the constant worry of having an enemy close by, and the aura that radiated from him. Except for Amber; she had returned to being jubilant and carefree, and constantly attempted to poke the three of them with idle conversation.

Just as the last bite was swallowed, Gerald emerged from the back door with Iori. The burly man had his arm over the skinnier man's shoulder, and he had his fist to his chest. "No worries, Gerald! You can count on me!"

Amber wiped her mouth with a napkin for the fifth time. She was the first one to finish, and now she was the first one to stand. "Looks like it's time for you guys to go home."

"What about him?" Roma said, placing emphasis on the last word as she stared at Gilgamesh. He was still sitting at his own table, swirling a glass of red wine and ignoring them.

"What about him?" Amber replied, placing emphasis on 'about.' She shrugged. "Who cares about him? Grandfather will drive the three of you home."

As they rose from their seats, Arturia paused and gave her a confused expression. "What about you, Amber?"

"Me?" She raised her brow. "Oh, I'm staying here. I want to eat another omelet or two. They're delicious."

Arturia stopped and placed her hand over her chest. With a solemn look, she said, "Amber, I cannot allow you to stay here in the presence of such an enemy."

She waved her hand and rolled her eyes. "Psh, I'm leagues stronger than the three of you combined right now. I'm a wizard, you know? Magical girl, magus, wizard, whatever you want to call it. I can take care of myself."

"Amber…"

"I'm touched that you care about me, but I'll be fine. Besides, you three need to rest up for tomorrow. It's going to be your first day of school, after all." Her smiled grew larger at the six letter word.

"School?" She remembered that Amber had spoken of it before, but she had not taken her seriously before. Was she actually to attend a public school? And with two Servants in tow?

"Teehee."  
**[3.4: Clash of Kings, **_**End**_**]**

* * *

Their walk was in silence. Neither of them bothered to look at the other. Gilgamesh walked with his arms crossed, with dignity and grace in every step. He kept his eyes facing front, and his turns seemed sudden. On the other hand, Amber constantly yawned, bounced her head back and forth and made little twirls and spins with the pen in her hand. They had been walking for some time; the sky had completely darkened, and the streets had mostly emptied. The streetlights illuminated the corners with a brilliant yellow, and the only noises other than a passing car every few seconds were the chirping of birds.

Finally, Gilgamesh broke the silence as they stopped in front of a desolate park. He turned to her with a frown on his face, and said, "You are no ordinary girl."

"No. I am a wonderful, magical girl," Amber snorted as she raised her brow and plopped down on a bench on their side of the fence. She crossed her legs and put her arm over the backrest. "I told you to make your presence known, not be a stupid idiot and a huge prick at the same time."

He ignored her. "Ambrosia Aurelia. Was that her name? Hmph, no wonder you-"

"So, Goldy, you'll keep up your end of the bargain, correct?"

"Damned dog, do not interrupt me when I speak!" he lashed out, his arm flailing towards her. She ducked away and smirked, and he crossed his arms back. "The Holy Grail is already mine. I had no intentions of fighting for such a trivial thing in the first place."

"Sure, whatever you say. Well then, if all goes well, you'll have your greatest treasure back by, say, next week."

Gilgamesh scowled. "I should just kill you now, mongrel, and save myself of any further interaction with you."

She snorted. "Come at me. I dare you."  
**[3.5: Interlude – Ambrosia]**

* * *

**Author's Note  
**And here is the third chapter. Most of the bases that I want to cover have been covered, and this is technically the end of a "prologue". A few small changes in the author's notes and the sectioning of the previous two chapters; you may want to take a quick look (no changes to content). I will try to address individual concerns in the reviews in the form of private messages, so feel free to ask any questions in new reviews. As for why I chose Arturia over the official "Altria," well, that's because Arturia resembles Arthur a lot more. That, and mirror-moon translation. Hope you enjoyed! (And I think I should find some beta readers...)

* * *

**Extra - Status Menu**

**Gilgamesh  
Height/Weight: 182cm, 68kg  
**Strength: B  
Mana: A  
Endurance: B  
Agility: B  
Luck: A  
Noble Phantasm: EX


End file.
